Malanje Province

Malanje is a province of Angola. It has an area of 97,602 km² and a 2014 census population of 968,135.Malanje is the capital of the province.

Geography

The Malanje Province is located in the north of Angola, the provincial capital and largest town of Malanje located 383 kilometres (238 mi) by road east of the national capital of Luanda. It is bordered to the northwest by Uige Province, to the northeast by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the east by Lunda Norte Province and Lunda Sul Province, to the south by Bié Province and Cuanza Sul Province, and in the west by Cuanza Norte Province. The extreme north of the province is covered with savannah, while the southern part is largely dry savannah. The main rivers are the Cuanza River in the southwest and Kwango River in the northeast, and there is a mountainous area known as the Malanje Plateau. The Cuije River and Cuanza flow in the vicinity of Cangandala National Park. Large areas north and southeast of the city of Malanje have been declared protected areas. Of note is the Milando Reserve Park (Reserva Especial do Milando) in the north and the Reserva Natural Integral do Luando at the headwaters of Cuanza.

Malanje

Malanje (also Malange) is the capital city of Malanje Province in Angola with a population of approximately 222,000. It is located 380 kilometres (240 mi) east of Angola's capital Luanda. Near it are the spectacular Calandula waterfalls, the rock formations of Pungo Andongo, and the Capanda Dam. The climate is mainly humid, with average temperatures between 20 and 24 °C (68 and 75 °F) and rainfall 900 to 130 millimetres (35.4 to 5.1 in) in the rainy season (October to April).

History

Portuguese rule

Portuguese settlers founded Malanje in the 19th century. The construction of the railway from Luanda to Malanje, in the fertile highlands, started in 1885. The environs of Malanje included the principal cotton-producing area of Portuguese West Africa and drove its development since the beginning. The town developed in the mid-19th century as an important feira (open-air market) on Portuguese Angola's principal plateau, between Luanda — the territory's capital and largest city, 350 kilometres (220 mi) to the west – and the Cubango River valley, inhabited by Northern Mbundu peoples, 200 km (120 mi) to the east. Situated at an elevation of 1,134 metres (3,720 ft), the town had a high-altitude tropical climate, ideal to several agricultural productions. The city developed as an important agricultural, manufacturing, trading and services centre. Its productions included cotton, textiles, coffee, fruit and corn, and among its facilities it had cinema, hospital, railway station and airport. The Cangandala National Park, was established by the Portuguese authorities on 25 June 1970, having previously been classified as an Integral Natural Reserve on 25 May 1963.